Singapore awards $344m BPLRT rail job to Bombardier

PHOTO: The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a S$344.25mil contract to renew the Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT) system to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Bombardier (Singapore).

The LTA said on Wednesday the contract will involve the renewal of the BPLRT system and work will start in the first half of 2018.

"The contract was awarded to Bombardier as it demonstrated that it would be able to renew the BPLRT system with minimal disruption to existing services.

"The completion timeline for the renewal will also be shorter than other suppliers. As the BPLRT's OEM, Bombardier is also familiar with the current system, and has built up experience from ongoing reliability improvement works carried out since 2016," it said.

LTA deputy chief executive for infrastructure and development Chua Chong Kheng said Bombardier's proposal satisfied its key requirement, which is to minimise inconvenience to residents and commuters during the period of upgrading and improvement.

"Bombardier's proposal does not require any modification to existing infrastructure and minimal disruption to rail services and hence, met our specifications.

"When the majority of works are completed by 2022, residents and commuters will be able to experience improvements in overall reliability and smoother train rides," he said.

The renewal contract covers the replacement of the existing signalling system with a communications based train control (CBTC) signalling system.

Also the 19 light rapid vehicles (LRVs) that have been in use since the BPLRT started passenger service in 1999 will also be replaced with new and improved vehicles.

In addition, the 13 LRVs that were introduced into service in 2015 will be upgraded with the new CBTC signalling system.

The power rail which runs along the entire 7.8km length of the BPLRT will also be replaced with an enhanced version. The renewed BPLRT will be equipped with condition monitoring capabilities to support system analytics and predictive maintenance over the life cycle of the system.